The Mountains Look Different

B-

Jonathan Bank, Mint Theater Company’s artistic director and excavator of neglected plays, has unearthed yet another play that was a hit in Dublin but never made to America. This time it is an 1948 melodrama by Micheal mac Liammoir, co-founder of the illustrious Gate Theater, about Bairbre (Brenda Meaney; Indian Ink, Incognito), a woman from the west of Ireland who returns home, newly married, after 13 hard years in London. Her naive husband Tom (Jesse Pennington; Uncle Vanya, Bootycandy), whom she truly seems to love, is unaware that, having no skill for domestic work, she was forced to support herself as a prostitute. Tom’s crusty father Martin (Con Horgan; The Beauty Queen of Leenane), a farmer, takes an immediate dislike to Bairbre and claims to have met her before. The bad blood between the two of them escalates to a dangerous level. The action is set on St. John’s Eve, a pre-Christian fertility invocation marked by building bonfires. We also meet Bairbre’s uncle Matthew Conroy (Paul O’Brien; Is Life Worth Living?); Bartley (Daniel Marconi), Martin’s impudent servant; Bridin (McKenna Quigley Harrington), a young girl; Maire (Cynthia Mace; Skintight), an old woman with a troubled grandson, Batty Wallace (Liam Forde; Much Ado about Nothing); and a priest (Ciaran Byrne; The Dead 1904). After a solid first act, things go somewhat awry after intermission. The introduction of four new characters late in the play dissipates the claustrophobia that was building up. The drama rapidly turns into melodrama. The strongest reason to see the play is the riveting performance by Ms. Meaney. One feels her pain. The other two principals do not fare as well. Mr. Horgan is insufficiently menacing as Martin. Mr. Pennington does not seem to have a grasp of Tom’s character; his movements are strangely crablike and he barely opens his mouth when he speaks. Vicki R. Davis’s (The Suitcase under the Bed) opening set of a stone farmhouse exterior with a mountain vista in the background turns around to reveal the main room of the farmhouse. Andrea Varga’s (The Suitcase under the Bed) costumes fit the characters very well. The lighting design by Christian DeAngelis (Hinkle Wakes) is an asset to the production. Director Aidan Redmond’s direction seemed choppy at times. The play is an interesting curiosity but not a must-see. Running time: two hours including intermission.

NOTE: The program contains an extended note on the life of the author that make him seem worthy of his own biographical drama. In addition to co-founding the Gate, he was esteemed as an actor, playwright, set designer and painter. He and Gate co-founder Hilton Edwards were prominent as a gay couple long before that was fashionable or even legal. Finally, 12 years after his death, it was revealed that the ultra-Irish mac Liammoir was actually Alfred Willmore, an Englishman whose love of things Irish led him to transform himself into an Irishman. 

Conflict

B+

The Mint Theater turns out first-rate productions of little-known early 20th-century British plays with such regularity that it would be easy to take them for granted. The latest example is a 1925 play by Miles Malleson that combines romance, politics and class.  Malleson (1888-1969) had such a productive career as a character actor in films (over 120) and as a screenwriter (20 screenplays, including The Thief of Baghdad in which he also played the sultan) that his work as a director, producer, translator of Moliere and playwright could be overlooked. In the present play, we meet Lord Bellingham (Graeme Malcolm; Equus, Hapgood), his bored, frivolous daughter Lady Dare Bellingham (Jessie Shelton; Hadestown), her stuffy beau Major Sir Ronald Clive, D.S.O. (Henry Clarke), her widowed friend Mrs. Tremayne (Jasmin Walker; Avenue Q) and the family butler Daniells (James Prendergast; Incident at Vichy). Dare is growing tired of the endless round of balls and dinners, but won’t commit to marrying Clive, her lover for over a year. Tom Smith (Jeremy Beck; Hindle Wakes), a former classmate of Clive’s at Cambridge who has fallen into dire poverty, turns up one night to beg for help. A year and a half later, Smith has regained his footing and is running as a Labour candidate for Parliament against Clive. Smith’s landlady, Mrs. Robinson (Amelia White; Crazy for You), is unimpressed with his politics, but Dare is intrigued. Will Lord Bellingham and Clive reveal a secret about Smith that could ruin his political and romantic future? I won’t tell. As usual, the Mint offers a strong cast, a splendid set (by John McDermott; Sense and Sensibility) and striking costumes (by Martha Hally; Women without Men). Jenn Thompson’s (Women without Men) direction reveals an aptitude for this material. It may not be as witty as Shaw, but it’s not as didactic either. I enjoyed it. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes including intermission.

Philip Goes Forth **

(Please click on the title to see the complete review.)

The Mint Theater Company’s noble mission to reclaim neglected plays occasionally turns up treasure, but more often than not proves how rare neglected masterpieces are. Their current offering is a tepid 1931 play by George Kelly, who had a few successes in the 20’s including a Pulitzer Prize for Craig’s Wife. 23-year-old Philip (Bernardo Cubria), the only son of widowed businessman Mr. Eldridge (Cliff Bennis), decides he wants out of the family business to move to New York to become a playwright. His romantic involvement with Cynthia (Natalie Kuhn), daughter of flamboyant family friend Mrs. Oliver (Carole Healey), seems to have ended for reasons unknown. His well-meaning aunt Mrs. Randolph (Christine Toy Johnson) tries to mediate between father and son. Her all-white drawing room, setting for Act One, looks right out of a Fred and Ginger movie. Philip moves to New York to a boarding house for artistic types run by former actress Mrs. Ferris (Kathryn Kates). Her drawing room is a riot of bilious color and pattern. The other residents include Mr. Shronk (Teddy Bergman), Philip’s former college roommate who has encouraged him to take up playwriting, Miss Krail (Rachel Moulton), an ethereal poetic soul who seems to belong to a different play, and Haines (Brian Keith MacDonald), an unsuccessful musician. Whether Philip really has the talent or true desire to become a playwright is a central issue. The acting ranges from overly broad (Cubria) to adept (Kates). Steven C. Kemp’s set design certainly commands our attention. Some of Carissa Kelly’s costumes are outlandishly distracting. Jerry Ruiz’s direction is slack. Running time: 2 hours including intermission.